Mornings with Lily
by Spritelight
Summary: It baffled Haymitch how she found comfort in his home and especially in him. He didn't look friendly; he was terribly far from friendly but according to everyone who knew them, Lily Mellark apparently adored him. A series of written one-shots featuring Haymitch as a grandfather - well, sort of.
1. Golden Tooth

The nuisance has returned.

It was not time for him to wake up. Haymitch Abernathy could tell just by the warm sunlight beating down on his face that it was way too early. He refused to stand up – oh by God, he didn't want to. The hangover he had this morning was worse than usual, or perhaps it was just made worse by the racket he was hearing downstairs in what he presumed was in his living room.

The clanging of the bottles continued and dangerously increased to a point where he was growing worried.

But the bed felt so right, it hadn't felt as right for a long time – the liquors Effie had sent him last night via train was so incredibly strong, as one would expect from the Capitol, that it chased all the nightmares away. Even the sheets covering his mattress, that were supposedly already nasty beyond repair, smelled like lavenders and roses – wait, not roses – to him.

He should be used to it by now.

The little sweetheart ever since she learned how to talk and walk and climb on the steps of his porch and opened doors, had gone to his living room every morning like a ritual and made a playpen out of it. It was a ploy by her parents to deplete the last bits of patience in his old drained body, or he thought so. Haymitch was a paranoid man; he was strongly convinced the child's parents taught her specifically how to trespass his property. It was probably one of their attempts of 'helping him'. Frankly, the kids' (that now were not kids at all) 'helping him' only increased his blood pressure. He was gonna die because of them, he hopes so.

Haymitch groaned.

"She's playing with the damn bottles." As if reminding himself that it was a bad thing and she would probably end up hurt.

He was again tempted to listen to the monsters in his head that murmured to him, _just leave the child alone, and whatever happens, if she injures herself, it was her parents fault for letting their child wander off_ to his home. But the angelic voice which he believed was his conscience or just a solid proof that he was still sane after all said that _the only reason Katniss and Peeta allows that is because they trust you with Lily._

And they shouldn't have.

He tried to tell them again and again not to because every parent who trusted him with their children in the past only went home with said children in a wooden box.

Peeta would laugh at him, so would Katniss in her own way. Apparently, they believe that they were his children too. And they turned out alright and alive albeit a little shook and burned but still alright. And that he, Haymitch Abernathy, had brought them through the games, the war and now they were at peace – or as close as they could get to peace anyway.

Haymitch abruptly stood, blinked the light out of his eyes and trudged down the steps.

If the little sweetheart bled out in his living room because of a shattered glass from one of his liquor bottles then it was like letting himself fulfill his curse of unintentionally killing everyone he loves and everyone that loves him.

Yes, Peeta and Katniss' little rascal loves him very much.

"Haymitch!" He cringed at the shrill voice of the four year old as she spotted him. "Good mowning!"

Lily Mellark had gathered all the cluttered bottles in his living room _and _kitchen and placed them all in the center of his carpet in a bulk that looked like a mini army of empty bottles. The bottles in the living room were plenty enough not to mention she also collected the ones in the kitchen. But on the upside, the first floor of his house was devoid of any liquor bottles.

Maybe he should hire the rascal as a maid. Working as such a young age, like her parents once did. _What a prodigy_, he snickered.

"How long have you been in my house? Where the hell are your parents?" His hands were on his hips with a scowl on his face. It used to scare her off but unfortunately now it only made her giggle.

She stood, waddled over to him and enveloped his legs with her stubby little arms.

Katniss called it a hug.

"Sun was pretty, I was here when it said hello." She pointed towards the window where there was, to her credit, a perfect view of the sky. "Mama and Dada, sleepy still. They don't wanna play with Lily yet."

Haymitch looked at her incredulously. The child was already here at dawn. It baffled him how she found such comfort in his home and especially in him. He didn't look friendly; he was terribly far from friendly but according to everyone who knew them, the child apparently adored him.

"Sweetie, what makes your little head think I want to play with you huh? I'm sleepy too. Now I'd let you stay here but you don't make any more noise than you already have. Got that you rascal?" He ruffled her blonde hair affectionately. Of course he said it humorously, didn't need Katniss shooting him arrows at this early in the morning. Anyway whatever tone he used on the child mattered none, whether he was shouting or grumbling or cooing, she would resort to hugging him still. He found out sometime ago that she only did that to him.

"'Cause Haymitch loves Lily," She says while letting go of his leg and flashing him her four front teeth.

He smirked. "I don't, sweetie. Why would I when you just have – what – four teeth?" He pointed at her four front teeth that were still disturbingly in plain view and said, "I'm way out of your league. See? I have 32 teeth, oh wait, 31 'cause the other one's already gold. I have a gold tooth, bet you don't have any."

Crouching down until they were eye-to-eye, he showed her his teeth. Lily found this as an invitation to shove her hand in his mouth just to touch that one gold tooth at the far back. He shouldn't have boasted about that tooth.

Unexpectedly, it led to his demise because now, Lily refused to take her hand out until she got it.

"I want it! It's sooo shiny!" She was still trying to fit her whole hand inside Haymitch's mouth, which he was forcefully closing.

"Stop – " He successfully yanked her hand out. " – that! Look," he wiped his palm around his mouth trying to rid the awful taste of her hand and said, "you don't shove your hand in people's mouths. That what Katniss been teaching you? It's not proper!"

She giggled. He scowled. His best attempt of scolding and the little sweetheart giggled at his face. This kid was immune to him, it seems.

"Why you giggling? I'm angry, Lily. Take me seriously!"

"I'm sowwy!" She giggled louder. "But you sound like Aunt Effie!"

"What..." He growled as he backtracked on his words. Great, now he sounded like a nagging Capitol woman.

"Okay so maybe I did sound like her – "she guffawed, " – but I am serious. You don't do that, Lily, especially not with your hand tasting so goddamned awful."

The second he said so, she stuck her hand in her own mouth and tasted it.

Now he was _really _beginning to question Katniss and Peeta's parenting techniques. He was starting to bet that even _he_, Haymitch Abernathy, the drunk _(ex)_ victor of District Twelve could possibly have raised this child better.

And his thoughts were fortified when she pulled her hand out a second later and said ,with that wide a_dorable_ grin, that it was delicious.

Tomorrow, he was locking his door.

He had enough of children's hands for breakfast, _figuratively._

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><p><strong>AN: Let's just acknowledge for a second how awesomely sarcastic and grumpy Haymitch is. Anyway this is my first time writing about HG, and I am <em>really <em>anxious about it. Though, I've been reading fanfics about Haymitch for a long time now. See, I'm inlove with him. Haha XD PS This doesn't really have a specific timeline. Just sort of like a compilation of connected one-shots. It's mostly gonna focus on moments Haymitch has with Katniss and Peeta's daughter. Also, I accept requests!**

**Let me know what you think! Thank you ;)**


	2. Flowers for You

Someone was knocking on his door in the dead of the night. Haymitch couldn't be more irritated as he opened it and presented his visitor with a scowl.

"What do you want?" Haymitch spat. There stood in his front door was Peeta Mellark, smirking casually.

"I'm here to give you something," Peeta said with a mischievous glint in his eyes Haymitch did not appreciate.

"Just get on with it, kid."

Peeta reached around his back and handed Haymitch a beautiful fresh flower. He was coming to realize that it was a Lily.

"For you."

Haymitch didn't take it. "Are you..." He felt the urge to grasp the contents of his stomach in his hands; he was going to hurl.

"Are you romancing me?"

That wiped the smirk off Peeta's face. "No! No, no, ugh, that's disgusting."

"The feeling's mutual."

Peeta visibly shuddered as an image crossed his mind. And now more than ever, he wanted to get this over with.

"How did you even... Never mind. Jesus."

Despite the disgust worming in his intestine, Haymitch couldn't help but find amusement in the boy's revolted expression. Well, he asked for it anyway. Who goes around giving old men flowers in the middle of the night anyways, huh? Psychopaths, that's who, and perverts.

"Here, it's a flower-"

"Go figure." Haymitch snickered.

Peeta glared at him and by way of explanation, he said, "Lily refuses to sleep until she's sure you received this. Apparently, it's a big deal. Now, receive it and then wave at our window, so we could all _finally _go to sleep. She's watching."

Haymitch didn't know if he was to groan or laugh. He should have known the little rascal was behind this.

Haymitch took the flower from Peeta and did as he was told. The window of the Mellark's was bright and there in the middle, poking her head through was Lily smiling and waving back at him. He then shooed Peeta, rejecting the boy's offered goodnight and slammed the door shut.

It seemed despite the cold, he felt all warm and fuzzy inside.

_Great,_ he thought sarcastically.

It was just that, for a long time no one had loved him and cared for him enough, that they would send him flowers at night. That family across the street was a force to be reckoned with. Always, in some way, they always manage to change something in his life. He was still debating himself on whether it was a good thing or not.

Haymitch took one last look at the flower before placing it inside a liquor bottle he filled with water. This would have to do for now.

Tomorrow, Haymitch was buying a vase.

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><p><strong>AN: One down, a lot more to go... In a span of two days I had miraculously written a lot of these one-shots. So I should be updating frequently. I hope you liked this! Btw, thank you to everyone who reviewed, alerted, favorited and <em>view<em>_ed_! **

**Let me know what you think! Thanks ;)**


	3. Pests and Pets

"You killed my pet!"

Haymitch was having a mild panic as Lily continued to look at him like he had broken her heart. She was beginning to tear up, her breath steadily quickening. There was something about her silent whimpering that crushed his chest. A loud tantrum he could handle but not this. Her face was too sorrowful to be owned by a child.

Lily Mellark looked like someone she loved had died. Well, someone - _something - _did.

"_Pet?_" Haymitch said, exasperated. "That was not a _pet, _sweetheart. That was a _rat, _a _huge_ rat."

Her bottom lip wobbling, her eyes looking at him with resentment he hadn't seen before. He didn't expect any less; he shouldn't have thrown a knife at the damn thing in front of Lily. The child was probably traumatized but Haymitch, in his defense, only acted by instinct. He saw a huge rat a size of a kitten in his living room, he killed it. It was valid.

"_A__nd_ we people, we kill them rats. You wanna know why, 'cause their pests."

"You killed George!"

"Oh fantastic, you named the damn rat. It was a miracle that thing hadn't bitten you."

That was when the tears started to fall. "I _loved_ him!"

"That's such an overused statement." Then an image flashed through his mind, ten years from now Lily saying the exact same thing when Haymitch rejects the boy she loves. "Let's pray that never happens," He mumbled to himself.

"The old man at the Hob gave it to me this morning. He said it could be a pet!"

He sighed, "Okay maybe some could become a pet but come on Lily. A rat? Not a dog or a cat, a rat?"

Lily only responded by crying harder, now resorting to hugging the pillow in his couch tightly.

And just when Haymitch thought it would never end, an idea popped into his head that made him smirk.

ooo

"Mama, mama!"

Lily's enthusiastic voice burst into the Mellark house.

"What is it, Lily?" Katniss and Peeta went out the door to welcome their child in. They stopped in their tracks when they saw what she was holding.

"I got a new pet!" Lily beamed at them, one could compare her to a child who just got a birthday present.

"What is that?" Peeta asked, hesitantly.

"Haymitch gave it to me! It's my new pet, a baby goose!"

Katniss, by reflex, glared at Haymitch across the street sitting at his front porch.

On his face was a mischievous smirk Katniss would _really _love to wipe off.

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><p><strong>AN: I am on a roll, aren't I? But school is nearing and soon there won't be time to update. I hope you loved this one. I sure did, it's one of my more enjoyable ones - I think. Thanks for the support guys!<strong>

**Let me know what you think! ;)**


	4. Coffee - Part 1

"Mama, what else do you put in coffee?" Lily Mellark's soft little voice resonated in the kitchen.

Katniss appeared beside her, looking at the cup of coffee her daughter was making.

"Why are you making coffee, Lily? It's a drink for adults only," said Katniss softly as she pried the cup from her daughter's fingers.

"No! It's for Haymitch." Lily clung to it. "Sshh, it's a present."

Katniss broke into a grin. It still fascinated her how much Lily loved Haymitch, but she figured that it was almost like having grandparents. In some of the movies Katniss watched, grandchildren always loved their grandparents more openly. She thought it might have been like that, although not entirely because Haymitch and Lily aren't blood-related at all and also; Haymitch was just in his late forties. Old as he was, he's still not _entirely old_ like grandparents ought to be.

Haymitch would never admit it out loud but he was less grumpy around Lily than with anyone else. This was the main reason why Katniss herself became more affectionate towards the man, no one would have thought it possible seeing as they nearly despised each other in the war.

"What else do you put in coffee, mama?"

Katniss grabbed the nearest jar she was sure was sugar and handed it to her child. "Make it special then, got that?"

"I will!" Lily beamed as she opened the jar and put two teaspoons into the cup.

If only Katniss looked at the jar more closely and if only Lily knew how to read, then they would have noticed the small paper taped on the front of the jar that spelled, S-A-L-T.

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><p><strong>AN: Now with salt in the coffee, I don't think it would turn out to be a very good morning for Haymitch - as usual.<br>Have a nice day everyone!**

**Let me know what you think ;)**


	5. Coffee - Part 2

"Haymitch, wake up!"

Haymitch grunted, shoving away the little hands grabbing at his nose – urging him to rise. "Go away, you little monster. Let me sleep," he slurred.

"Wake up! Please Haymitch, I made you coffeeeee." She drawled out.

When Haymitch couldn't take the whimpering anymore, he sat up abruptly and glared at the child. "If I drink that damn coffee would you leave me to sleep in peace?"

"Yes, I promise!" Lily nearly squealed.

"Oops, I forgot." She greeted, "Good morning, Haymitch!"

"I think a 'good morning' is long overdue, kid. Give that to me." Haymitch all but snatched the cup from her hands. The strong aroma of the coffee attacked his nostrils which made it more undesirable to drink. Haymitch convinced himself that throwing the stuff away would probably invoke a tantrum session. And a tantrum session was a certain way to deprive him of sleep. So no, he had to drink this stuff.

"I put extra sugar in it!"

"Oh _joy._" Haymitch groaned. He took a hesitant sip on the cup, the pressure of Lily's expectant gaze weighing on him. Time to put his acting skills to work then.

Only, the moment the coffee touched his tongue – it was not the overly sweetness or the unbearable bitterness he was expecting. He was revolted as he tasted saltiness. "Bleh!" Since when was coffee salty?! It was such a trauma inducing experience Haymitch was sure he would never drink coffee again.

Haymitch spit the drink into his covers, letting out a couple of expletives at the same time Lily's face fell.

"It didn't taste good?"

He breathed in. "Did you by any chance use saltwater on this, sweetheart?"

Lily scratched her head. "No, I didn't. I put plenty of sugar in it though."

"Uh-huh. By sugar, you mean salt." Haymitch placed the cup on the table.

"I ain't drinking any of that concoction any more. Just so you know, that should've been considered bloody frustrated murder." He shuddered once more, remembering the mere taste.

"I really thought it was sugar though," Lily said dejectedly.

He sighed. "What business are you in any way to be making coffee?"

"I just wanted to give you something nice and sweet," She whispered sadly. Something about seeing her sad was unusual to Haymitch since most of the time, the kid was jumping around happily from place to place like a rabbit.

He could feel himself slipping into one of her traps once again. Haymitch found out that despite his ramblings, he couldn't take seeing Lily saddened like she was now.

He would regret this later he knew but, screw it.

"Well what an effective way of waking me up_._" Haymitch smirked at her. "Now that you've completely disturbed my slumber, you have no choice in the matter; you are going to help me feed the geese this morning." _Even if all he wanted to do was sleep._

And almost immediately the little rascal brightened up. Flashing him that goofy grin he was steadily beginning to love.

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><p><strong>AN: Here we go! Thanks for your support everyone. Next chapter, there's gonna be a hint of Hayffie. It's ridiculous how much I ship it. XD Again, please let me know what you think! ;)<strong>


	6. The 'M' Word

Haymitch sat on the lawn chair in his front porch when Lily came marching towards him from across the street. He sighed heavily when he noticed the child wearing an expression he liked to call, 'I'm-so-curious-and-I'm-gonna-bug-you-until-you-die' face. As usual, the appearance of this face would be followed by an avalanche of questions directed at him.

"Here we go..."

"Haymitch, I have a very important question." Right on cue.

Haymitch readied his patience. "What is it, sweetheart?"

"Are you married?"

Haymitch stared at the girl for a moment until he realized he had dropped his liquor bottle, which thankfully did not shatter to pieces. Well, he certainly didn't expect to be asked that question no less from a four year old girl but really, he shouldn't be surprised anymore. Haymitch discovered that these were just the kind of things that happen to him.

He collected himself and said, "No."

"But _why_?"

"Would you like me to be?"

"_Yes!_" She squealed and gripped the sleeve of his shirt.

"Sucks for you then," Haymitch rolled his eyes.

"Why are you not married, Haymitch?!" Lily pleaded and the look on her eyes made Haymitch want to laugh and pity himself simultaneously. Why _was_ he not married? It was a stupid yet very valid question in which the answer he knew well, but it's not something a child like her needs to know.

"Do you not have anything better to do?"

Lily ignored him and pushed the question still. "You need to have a wife Haymitch."

"Sweetheart," He breathed out. For the life of him, Haymitch could never imagine having a wife. He thinks a lot of people would agree to saying that he wasn't a very ideal husband. "How you know these things is beyond me."

"Mama and Dada are happy because they're married," she said firmly as if she's trying to make him understand something but he's too hard-headed to do so.

"And you're always alone in your house, Haymitch. I want you to be happy too!"

Haymitch sighed, "I am happy. Sometimes, you can also be happy by just being alone."

"Then why do you drink _that_?" She pointed towards the bottle on the floor. "Mama says you drink that 'cause you need to forget some scary things."

Within that moment Haymitch realized that this wasn't a conversation he was expecting to have with this child. They always tried to shield her from the things of the past, only now does he truly realize that they can't fully do so. "Old habits die hard."

He also realizes as he looks at Lily that there were tears forming in her eyes.

"I don't want you to be sad Haymitch. You don't deserve to be sad."

He chuckled, "When you're older and you already know some things, I don't think you would still believe that."

Lily only scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. _Too deep,_ Haymitch thought.

"Besides, you rascal, I'm not entirely alone. I have your parents, and _you._" Then Haymitch was glad of the innocence children have. When you say things to them, they take them as they are. They aren't cynical, aren't mocking which was probably why it was easy to be honest with them.

Lily immediately brightened, exposing her toothy grin. "And Effie! You have Effie too."

Haymitch let out an abrupt laugh. "Yeah, her too."

"Is she your girlfriend?"

He smirked and winked at the child, "Close but not quite."

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><p><strong>AN: Teehee, here you go! I am so happy, thanks to everyone who supportedread this. I heart you people. 3 Anyway, Effie's gonna have a major appearance sometime soon, I guess. Watch out for that ;) **

**Let me know what you guys think! :)**


	7. Father, Officially

**AN: Before anything else, as you can see my fic is less angst and more fluff. Also in this fic, the characters have all slightly recovered and moved past the war albeit just slightly. BTW, I decided to make Haymitch younger than how he must be in the original books - response to one of my reviewers. Thank you!**

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><p>"Haymitch, breakfast is done!" Peeta shouted.<p>

Earlier this morning, Haymitch with Lily in his arms had trudged inside the Mellark house hold demanding that he be fed. It turned out that Lily accidentally broke all the eggs in his fridge and therefore rendered him foodless. Because Haymitch was the kind of man that only had eggs in his fridge – oh_, and_ liquor.

While Peeta and Katniss were preparing breakfast with Lily watching them steadily in the sidelines, Haymitch had roamed their house. And now as Peeta shouted for the second time, the man still did not respond.

"Haymitch?" Katniss tried. "Where is he?"

Although their house was not incredibly huge, there were a lot of rooms and after Katniss searched the first floor it was clear he was not there.

"Found him! He's in the study," Peeta exclaimed from above. "And oh... He's found something."

"What is this, Peeta?" Katniss heard Haymitch ask. There was something in his tone that led Katniss into the study with them. Haymitch stood over the desk holding a clump of paper in his hands looking at it with complete disbelief.

Katniss recognized what it was, and gasped. She could feel herself blushing.

"Well..." Katniss tried to placate the man. Haymitch was now scowling, glaring and everything that he does when he's unhappy.

"You kids..." He growled. "Would you kindly explain this? Why is it that it says here that I adopted Katniss Everdeen? How in the world did you make me sign this?"

Katniss couldn't look at him. It was actually three years ago when Peeta offered the idea. They hadn't told Haymitch of it, and now, said man was holding the adoption papers. It was proof that legally, Haymitch Abernathy was consider as a father to Katniss Everdeen.

"Is this your version of a prank? 'Cause I don't like it."

Peeta chuckled, "You were drunk. It seemed like a fantastic idea."

Still looking at the paper, Haymitch sighed and turned his gaze to Katniss. "Fantastic idea, indeed." He groaned sarcastically.

"Well," Katniss added, "I guess it makes things official."

Haymitch rolled his eyes. "Official _my ass_."

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><p><strong>AN: So it's short (and a bit OOC for Katniss) buuuuut. Next chapter, EFFIE is in the house! Which makes me very excited. I hope you're there to read it guys! Thanks for the continuous support.<strong>

**Let me know what you think ;)**


	8. When He Cleans

**AN: Time elements are changed. In this fic, this was set six years after the war. :)**

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><p>Effie Trinket was pissed. But of course being a proper lady as she is, pissed was <em>never <em>an acceptable word – in accordance to her prim nature, Effie chose to settle with the less satisfying term; _aggravated._

The train arrived in District 12 late, exactly an hour late. The Capitol woman found it extremely unprofessional and being the new free country Panem is after the war six years ago, Effie plotted to complain about this to some existing authority that handled these things. But that was for another time, in a different schedule.

She trudged into Victor's Village which seemingly looked more alive and greener, probably thanks to Peeta's attempts of gardening. Now the small village, still with a population of 4, bloomed with different assortments of flowers, fruits and vegetables. Even the sole grumpy victor of District 12 had an accommodating and presentable front yard, completely in contrast to what it once was.

Again, probably thanks to Peeta.

Effie Trinket dragged her luggage towards Haymitch's house.

Tomorrow was Katniss' twenty-third birthday and Peeta had assembled the whole team for a surprise. Being it a surprise, Effie's presence in District 12 was to remain hidden until tomorrow.

Without knocking, because no one ever knocks in Haymitch's door nowadays, she entered his house. And to say she was pleasantly surprised with what she smelled was an understatement.

Haymitch's house smelled of _flowers_.

She would have laughed at how ridiculous it sounded, because Haymitch and flowers were almost always hilarious when placed in one sentence, but Effie was immediately overcome by relief that it wasn't the awful stench of booze in the air.

"Has he stopped drinking?" She whispered to herself, eyes wide and disbelieving.

Effie raced upstairs, searching for Haymitch, resolved that he was lying drunk on his mattress and that the aroma downstairs was just a hallucination.

Instead of a drunk and unhygienic Haymitch on his bed, she discovered the room uninhabited and inexplicably _clean._ The bed was with c_lean_ bed sheets_._

Now that she took notice, the whole house was seemingly sparkling. The floor was swept and mopped; the curtains were a_ctually _pulled up with the windows _open _to let light and air into the house. Effie Trinket could not believe her senses. This was far from the house she remembered; it was no longer gloomy and brooding. After such a long time, Haymitch's house finally felt more like a home.

"What in God's grace happened to him..." She laughed, a goofy grin radiating her make-up free face.

Effie ran downstairs and heard a soft rhythmical thud coming from a room near the back. She entered what she assumed was the storage and found out that it was actually the laundry room.

And there was laundry in it.

Effie laughed a triumphant laugh. "He's doing _laundry!_ What has gotten into that man?"

"Speaking of, where is he?"

Effie Trinket roamed the first floor, which wasn't all that big, and a minute later found the man in question napping on his couch.

She had planned to kiss Haymitch senseless once she found him because Effie had to give the man credit and she was, after all, truly overjoyed. Seeing his house spotless was like an early Christmas gift, heaven knows how everyone was dying to get that house cleaned.

The plan was scratched to bits when Effie discovered Haymitch sitting unconscious on his couch not with a liquor bottle in his lap but a pillow instead. On that pillow laid Lily Mellark's head as she slept.

Effie Trinket's heart nearly burst out from her chest.

Just when she thought the sight of Haymitch's clean house was one of the more irreplaceable things she has seen, she came upon this.

It seemed to her that though Lily was immune to Haymitch; Haymitch was not at all immune to her. Effie couldn't help but wonder what a great father Haymitch could've been if only the chance wasn't stolen from him. The kids, Katniss, Peeta and their little angel was no doubt blessings in his life.

Albeit he would have everyone think differently, it was the truth.

At that moment, her mind decided that staying here for a week was definitely not enough. Screw her schedule, this vacation was destined for an extension.

Effie kissed her two favourite people in the world on their foreheads and blinked away happy tears.

Now... if only every morning was like this.

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><p><strong>AN: EFFIE'S here! So a continuation of this would be posted this week, or the next. Idk, depends on my schoolwork. Hope you enjoyed this! :D And as always, thank you for your support guys!<strong>

**Let me know what you think ;)**


	9. The Day Before

**AN: Thank you for everyone's support! :* The reviews were so inspiring. Anyway, to the anonymous ones - I can't reply to y'all but I appreciate you guys, same goes to everyone who took the time to give me a review. You're such sweethearts :****

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><p>Today, Haymitch was <em>cleaning.<em>

And tomorrow, Effie was coming over.

She was staying for the remainder of the week; it was because of Katniss' 23rd birthday.

Peeta deemed it fit to reunite the whole group as a surprise for the young woman's birthday. It was also Peeta that deemed it fit for Effie to stay at Haymitch's house until the occasion was over.

Even though it has already been three months since Haymitch last saw the Capitol woman, she was not the reason why he was c_leaning._

He would not imagine doing this, not even in his most bored out days.

Haymitch Abernathy, sweeping the floor. It almost only existed in an alternate universe where he wasn't the lazy unhygienic ass he is.

Almost, until it didn't. Lo behold, he _was _sweeping the floor and it made his damn back hurt.

Although complaining was probably useless at this point because his house was already, sweeping the floor was actually the last task to do, well besides changing the sheets of his bed. That would take another more intense miracle for him to finally be convinced to change its covers.

And besides, after cleaning his house for the better part of the day, he craved for sleep.

When the last bits of dust were swept out the back door, Haymitch took a deep gulp of air and immediately regretted it. It smelled like _flowers, _he didn't know what kind exactly but really, his house was already too feminine. He guessed smelling like a flower shop was better than the stench of booze and vomit.

Again the reason for this miraculously change of heart was no other than the girl next door that smiles at him with that toothy grin and asks him stressful questions.

Man, he was whipped.

Lily Mellark was the reason why Haymitch was cleaning. It seems she was becoming the reason for a lot of things nowadays.

Yesterday, Lily stayed at his house for the whole day and eventually fell asleep on his living room floor. As he carried her in his arms and delivered her to her parent's house, he accidentally smelled her.

And she smelled like booze.

Haymitch didn't like it. He hated the smell of booze on her, and by God as long as he was alive he'd never let it happen again. Haymitch didn't know where the protective feeling came from but Lily smelling like alcohol didn't sit right with him. It surged him with the feeling of anger.

And so today when Lily came over, he exiled her up in his room while he cleaned his house. He didn't want any of his filth ever touching that kid again.

Haymitch pulled the curtains up to let the light in and opened his window. A gust of wind entered his home and suddenly it looked so much more alive.

Everything in this house was finally alive. Even _him; _especially him.

Haymitch grabbed an apple in the kitchen counter and climbed his way up the stairs towards his bedroom. Then he rounded the corner and there he found Lily asleep on his bed.

Lily was sleeping on his soiled smelly bed.

Haymitch sighed. Just when he thought he could finally rest.

It looks like he has to change his sheets as well.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: The fun part is next chapter! Becaaaaaause it's Katniss birthday! Oh it's gonna be a riot, 'cause it just so happens <em>almost <em>the whole gang will be there. I'm really excited to get the next chapter started sooo, see you guys when I see you (wut). Have a nice weekend!**

**Let me know what you think ;)**


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